The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway.

The present station was opened 9 October 1848 by the North Staffordshire Railway as Harecastle and was during the early years of the North Staffordshire era variously called Harecastle Junction, Kidsgrove Junction.

In British Rail days it was known as Kidsgrove Central when the town had three stations, the other two were Kidsgrove Liverpool Road and Market Street Halt on the old North Staffordshire Railway's Potteries Loop Line (all three stations were opened by the North Staffordshire Railway).

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: On Sundays, the station is served by an hourly service between Crewe and Stafford and 6 trains per day between Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent.

The first Manchester-bound train on a Sunday extends to Manchester Oxford Road.